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Catalogue entry
The Specimen
🦎 ORIGINAL MOSASAUR TAIL IN MATRIX – APPROX. 92 CM
An original Late Cretaceous mosasaur tail section preserved in its natural matrix, from the phosphate deposits of Morocco. A long, gently curved series of caudal vertebrae with their spines runs the full length of the plaster-framed plate, which measures approximately 92 cm (about 36 inches).
🔎 Fossil Information
- Fossil type: Mosasaur tail section (caudal vertebrae) in natural matrix
- Identification: Mosasaur sp. (family Mosasauridae)
- Plate length: Approximately 92 cm / about 36 inches (measured in the photograph)
- Period: Late Cretaceous
- Estimated age: Approximately 66–72 million years
- Locality: Phosphate deposits, Morocco
- Presentation: Tail vertebrae and spines in their matrix, set in a white plaster frame
- Condition: Original fossil, no repairs or restoration
- Display stand: Not included
- Availability: One exact photographed specimen
- PaleoDeserts reference: PD-MTL-0092A
🌊 Prehistoric Marine-Reptile Display
Mosasaurs were powerful marine reptiles that inhabited the seas of the Late Cretaceous. They were not dinosaurs; they were squamates, related to modern monitor lizards and snakes. Their long, muscular tails drove them through the water, and a tail section preserved in matrix shows the vertebrae and spines in their natural order.
🛠️ Preparation and Condition
This is an original fossil tail section in its natural matrix, with no repairs or restoration.
🏛️ Professional Display
At about 36 inches long, this plate is a dramatic wall or table display for a private collection, office, library or natural-history interior.
📷 Exact Specimen
You will receive the exact mosasaur tail plate shown in the photographs. The studio photographs are presentations of this same specimen with the background changed; the measuring photographs and close-ups are unedited views. Only one specimen is available.
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Where it comes from
Moroccan Origin
Morocco’s phosphate basins, above all the Oulad Abdoun Basin near Khouribga and the Ganntour Basin near Benguerir, preserve one of the richest marine vertebrate fossil records on Earth.
At the end of the Cretaceous, a shallow sea covered this part of Morocco. Its nutrient-rich waters supported mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, sharks and bony fish, whose bones and teeth were preserved in the accumulating phosphate sediments.
Reported locality for this specimen: Phosphate deposits, Morocco.
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From the rock
Discovery
Moroccan phosphates are worked in successive layers. As the rock is exposed, fossil bones and teeth appear within the phosphate beds and are recovered before the material is processed.
Large skulls, jaws and skeletons are rare finds within this enormous volume of rock, and must be lifted carefully, often together with their surrounding matrix.
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Deep time
Geological Context
The Maastrichtian phosphate beds formed in the final stage of the Cretaceous, shortly before the extinction event about 66 million years ago. Younger phosphate layers continue into the Paleocene and Eocene.
- Period
- Late Cretaceous
- Estimated age
- Approximately 66–72 million years
- Locality
- Phosphate deposits, Morocco
- Deposit
- Moroccan phosphates
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The workshop
Preparation
Fossils are freed from their surrounding rock with fine air-powered tools, abrasives, brushes and consolidants. Depending on size and fragility, preparation can take from a few hours to several months.
The preparation, association, repair and restoration information supplied for this specimen is listed below, exactly as recorded in its catalogue entry.
- Presentation
- Tail vertebrae and spines in their matrix, set in a white plaster frame
- Condition
- Original fossil, no repairs or restoration
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On display
Presentation
Presented as a natural-history specimen, this fossil is suited to a private collection, a gallery, a library or a carefully designed interior.
Display stand: Not included.
This listing describes one individual specimen. You will receive the exact fossil shown in the photographs.
For display, choose a stable surface away from strong direct sunlight and humidity. Our care guide explains how to clean, handle and present a fossil.
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For the collector
Collector Information
The Oulad Abdoun BasinMosasaur vs DinosaurFAQAll Fossil Guides
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